Monsters In The Sky
by Sawbo1
Summary: The 10th Doctor agrees to take Donna Noble to a polo match in Sussex for a genteel afternoon, hobnobbing with royalty. Arriving some way from their intended destination they mislay the Tardis, are confused by the locals,and spot some rather odd things.
1. Chapter 1

**Monsters In The Sky**

**Chapter 1:**

The Doctor was just making a note of the console readouts on a small yellow post-it note, when a movement behind him attracted his attention.

"Doctor…" Donna started, in a voice he recognised only too well! He turned towards her, still resting one elbow on the console in front of him. She was standing by the door to the Tardis living quarters, with a large striped hexagonal cardboard box swinging gently from her arm.

"Now look – I've told you – there is _NO_ 'Planet of the Hats'….. not as such, anyway…..!" he said in a slightly exasperated tone, straightening up and removing his glasses in order to focus on her face more clearly.

"Yeah, yeah …. I _get_ that, Doctor! It's just…. We've been rushing around, saving the Universe quite a lot recently – and I fancied a few hours of getting properly dressed up and going out somewhere -just for fun! How about it Doctor?... Please?"

"So, what were you thinking of then? Barcelona – I've still never made it there – could be a hoot?"

"And have you making that stupid dog joke all day long? No thank you, Doctor! How about somewhere on Earth – posh, summertime, tea on the veranda, nothing more exciting than a vol-au-vent?"

"I thought you liked it …. the adventure, new worlds, all of that!" He sounded put out.

"You know I _love_ it, travelling with you! But today I just fancy 'safe'. Quiet and safe. Just for a few hours – recharge our batteries!"

She had her head on one side, hatbox still swinging, and that pleading smile he found so hard to refuse! He sat on the edge of the console, and stared upwards as he contemplated the options. Past? Present? Future?

"I know!" he cried after a few moments. "Prince Charles suggested I pop by to watch a polo match next time I was passing! That the sort of thing you were thinking of?"

"Wh…. Prince Charles?...Actual Might–Be-King-One-Day Prince Charles? When? When did he say that – or are you winding me up?"

The Doctor turned back to the console, stuck his post-it on the side of the monitor, and began to twist handles, and pump levers. "It was after Christmas that time. Remember? Titanic? Buckingham Palace? So- do you want to take him up on his kind offer?"

"What are we waiting for?"

She grinned at him, before disappearing back into the living quarters to get changed.

Vwooorp…..! vwooorp ….! Vwooorp…!

The Tardis materialised beside a stony track between two fields. The sun was beating down as The Doctor leaped out of the door. He looked around, smiling broadly, before calling over his shoulder,

"The sun's shining! C'mon!"

As he stepped into the lane, the Tardis door opened wider to reveal Donna, looking magnificent in a toffee coloured linen dress and matching jacket, and a large cream broad brimmed hat.

"Will I do, Doctor?" she asked.

"Mmm" he said absently, "can you walk in those shoes –we seem to be a bit further away than I'd planned"

It was no use expecting The Doctor to notice sartorial details, she thought. Then out loud

" How far away are we? And from where exactly?"

He seemed to be scanning their surroundings –first looking up and down the deserted lane, and then out to the horizon in all directions.

"Well, the geography looks right- those are the Sussex Downs. We're heading for the polo match at Cowdrey Park." he explained, flashing her his brilliant smile. "It's a big event –shouldn't have any difficulties getting in!"

He pulled a small brass gadget out of his pocket, twiddled a couple of dials, screwed his eyes up to look at the sun, checked the dials again, then looked to his right, up the track.

"We seem to be a little further South than I thought – better get a move on, or we'll miss the start!"

They headed up the track side by side. There was no noise around them save for the occasional bird, or a sheep on the hillside calling out. Donna was about to start asking the Doctor about how to behave if she came face to face with HRH himself, when they both became aware of some sort of wagon trundling down the track towards them. It was pulled by a stocky brown horse, and driven by an elderly man in a linen shirt, and some sort of knee length woollen trousers. As the wagon drew level with them, they jumped up on to the verge to give it plenty of room.

"Good afternoon!" called out The Doctor.

The man nodded politely to them, and The Doctor continued,

"Are we heading in the right direction for Cowdrey? And how far away are we?"

" Yerss" nodded the driver, "Bout five miles, I reckon!" "Thank you!" responded The Doctor, and raised his hand in salutation as the wagon rumbled past.

Donna stood where she was.

"Five miles? We should go back to the Tardis and use it to get there! I'd turn up looking like a crumpled rag if I walked five miles in this heat!"

The Doctor conceded the point and they turned and retraced their steps back down the track.

After a few minutes, both began to look a little thoughtful, and as they reached a bend in the track they both stopped.

"I don't remember this bend, and I'm sure that tree was in the distance when we came out of the door!" Donna spoke, voicing both their concerns.

The Doctor stood, deep in thought, with furrowed brow, for a moment or two, before again fishing out his gadget. He twiddled the dials, looked up and down the track, checked the position of the sun, and then looked once more at the dials in front of him.

"We've passed her – or at least we've walked past where we left her!" he said at last.

Donna looked up and down the track too.

"We can't have" she said, "It wasn't hidden by anything – it was right on the edge of the track!"

"Then where is it now?" he asked thoughtfully.

They retraced their steps until they had reached the place where the wagon had passed them. As they stood there, coming to terms with the fact that the Tardis had unaccountably vanished, Donna realised she was staring at something bright orange lying in the middle of the track.

A satsuma.

The Doctor followed Donna's gaze, then leaned forward and picked up the satsuma.

"Must have fallen out of that chap's packed lunch," he mused, tossing it up in the air a couple of times, before stowing it in his pocket. "Useful thing, a Satsuma!" he murmured, then sighed.

"So what do we do now?" asked Donna.

"Keep walking, see what happens?" he offered.

Donna rolled her eyes, but set off with him along the track.

The field they were now passing contained a small orchard, with branches heavy with apples. The Doctor suddenly stopped still, and Donna noticed a puzzled look on his face. She followed the direction of his stare, and saw a woman between the trees. She had a large wicker basket almost full of apples, and seemed to be supervising a small boy who was up a ladder, collecting more of the swollen fruit.

She became aware of their presence, and turned towards them. It was then that Donna realised why the Doctor was puzzled. It was her clothing. She looked for all the world as if she had stepped out of a medieval painting. She wore a long woollen skirt and tight bodice, over a linen shirt. Her head was swathed in linen cloth with a large straw hat perched on the top.

She approached them as they stood staring in the lane.

"Good Sir, My Lady, can I assist you in any way?" she asked politely, with a hint of a small curtsey.

"Er…. Where exactly are we? And…. I know this is going to sound strange - but what year is this?" The Doctor enquired.

The woman looked at him oddly for a moment before answering, "This is the farm of my husband Robert Sandon in the parish of Singleton, and the year…..it be the year of our Lord 1599."

" Right," he said, nodding as if he had suspected as much. "We were travelling towards Cowdrey, and left our….carriage, whilst…. strolling in the lane, and when we returned it had…gone! I don't suppose you have seen anything….a blue box…perhaps on the back of a cart?"

She shook her head slowly. "The only soul I've seen in the lane today was old John Carter in his wagon – everyone else is in the fields getting the last of the corn in!"

The woman studied them for a moment before saying, "If it would please you -you seem hot and tired -would you come to our home, where I can offer you refreshment, and send for my husband? He may know what is to be done about your carriage and your missing box."

Donna, realising that she was indeed very thirsty, and that her feet were aching, prodded The Doctor in the ribs, and accepted the invitation with a smile.

The woman called to the small boy, sending him off to search out his father in the fields, and The Doctor helped her to carry the now full basket of apples up the lane to a flint and red brick farmhouse just above a curve in the road.

They entered through a central door. Immediately facing them was a red brick wall, with doors to either side. Donna soon realised that the brick wall was the side of a huge central chimney, with what looked like a kitchen to one side, and a chamber to the other. It was into this room that the woman, who had given her name as Rachel, ushered them, before scurrying to the kitchen to prepare some food and drink.

Once they were alone, Donna turned on The Doctor "1599?...Do you actually know how to fly that thing? And what has happened to the Tardis? Cucumber sandwiches I wanted – a peaceful afternoon! You've done it again!"

He sat in a large carved wooden armchair, resting his head against its back.

"Hmmm….," he said " We seem to be more or less in the right location, just four hundred or so years out! There was a strange…wobble as we landed," he continued "I put it down to turbulence at the time, but….."

They were interrupted by the simultaneous return of Rachel with some ale and spiced biscuits, and the appearance of a large man, whom they took to be Robert, the owner of the farm. He held out his hand to the Doctor, and nodded to Donna.

"My son has explained to me the unfortunate circumstances in which you find yourselves – you must accept our hospitality until something more acceptable can be found" With that, he put down the things which he had been carrying on a long wooden table at the side of the room. The Doctor, who was about to answer him, stopped in his tracks, looking in puzzlement at Robert's goods. Donna followed his gaze over the black leather bottle, and the…bunch of bananas!

The Doctor got to his feet, put on his glasses, and went over to the fruit. He turned them over and peered closely at the small green and blue sticker on one of the bananas. 'Fair Trade' it announced. The Doctor looked up, and stared thoughtfully into the distance, his frown deepening.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**Chapter 2:**

The Doctor looked back down at the fruit and turned them over in his hand, examining them carefully.

"Forgive me for asking, Robert, but where did these come from?" he enquired.

Robert shrugged his shoulders before replying,

"They were lying in the gateway to the lower field as I came home- are they yours Sir? I have never seen the like of them before. They seem to be some type of plant, but what plant it is, I could not say!"

"They're bananas - a good source of... nourishment," The Doctor informed him. "But they shouldn't be lying in a field in 1599. And with a supermarket sticker on them?"

He looked up at Donna and raised an eyebrow. She returned his gaze, waiting for his next move.

He pulled out the Sonic, and ran it over the perfectly ripe yellow skins. Rachel and Robert stepped back in alarm at the whirring sound emitting from the small tool with the bright blue light. This gentleman seemed so strange, and yet...They both had a feeling that they could trust him.

"Nothing wrong with them!" said The Doctor, replacing the Sonic in his pocket. "Except maybe a little residual time energy around them..."

"What does that mean?" demanded Donna.

"I'm not sure - except we can offer our hosts some pudding this evening!" he said with one of his sudden bright smiles.

He handed the bananas to Rachel, explaining that they would need no preparation in advance, and would provide a sweet addition to their supper later. Rachel bustled about making preparations, before leading them upstairs, showing them into a chamber containing a bed, a chair, and two wooden chests. The bed had linen sheets and a warm woollen blanket over it, and some beautifully embroidered cushions. It was obviously the main bedroom of the house, and they thanked her profusely before she disappeared downstairs to prepare a meal for them all.

The Doctor threw himself down on the bed, put his hands behind his head, and lay considering the events of the day. Donna dropped down into the chair.

"I don't expect we should mention we're not married or anything - under the circumstances. We wouldn't want to shock our hosts, would we?" she wondered aloud.

"Best not worry them, no," he agreed, giving her a lop-sided grin. "We'll manage!"

"So Doctor, what's going on? I don't suppose we've stumbled into some kind of historical re-enactment, and the fruit is from a branch of Tesco down the road, and we'll all be laughing about it in half an hour?" she said, hopefully.

"Sorry- don't think so. Those bananas did have some signs of having travelled through time, but how or why is a mystery!"

Later that evening, over a supper of thick soupy stew, with hunks of heavy wholemeal bread and slices of creamy cheese, The Doctor described the exterior of the Tardis to Robert, and explained that without it they were unable to go on their way. Robert extended his invitation to stay until some news of its whereabouts could be obtained, but added that he couldn't spare anyone to help search for it until the day after next, as it was vital they got the rest of their harvest in before the weather changed.

Donna demonstrated how to break off, then peel a banana, and as they ate the mysterious fruit, it was agreed that the two travellers would spend the next day helping to bring in the last of the corn, before the harvest celebrations that evening.

The next morning saw The Doctor, with a loose linen smock covering his shirt, heading off with Robert and a dozen others to the lower field, to continue with the harvesting. One team of men were mowers, who used long scythes to cut the corn at just above ground level. Another team, this time mainly women and older children, followed at a safe distance, gathering up the cut stalks, and tying them into bundles. The Doctor joined a third team, with Robert himself, whose job it was to lift these bundles up on to the cart, which was pulled slowly across the field behind the harvesters.

Donna spent the morning helping Rachel to prepare some of the food that would be eaten that night by everyone who had helped the Sandons with their harvesting over the last week. Rachel had lent her some more appropriate clothes for such work, and her suit hung upstairs ready for the evening's entertainment.

At about noon they headed out to the field with large leather bottles of ale and some bread and apples for those who had been working there. Donna flopped down in the shade of the cart, next to The Doctor. She looked at him, all covered in dust, with small pieces of straw sticking out of his hair, and couldn't help laughing at him.

"Good honest toil," he admonished her, "Nothing wrong with it - besides _your_ face is all covered in flour!" He swigged gratefully at the ale she had brought him.

At that moment there was a stir of excitement, as an elderly man hobbled across the fields towards them, a look of consternation on his face. It transpired that he was John, the Sandons' shepherd, who had been herding a small group of sheep along the lane, when something inexplicable had happened.

He claimed that as they had reached a bend in the lane, there had been some sort of haze and shift in the air, and the lead sheep had simply vanished, leaving the others to panic and swirl about, as if a dog were after them.

The Doctor listened to this with interest before getting up and asking John to show him where this had taken place. The other labourers, obviously of the opinion that John had been at the strong Harvest Ale a little early, stretched their legs and got back to work.

Donna followed John and The Doctor back up the lane to the spot where the sheep had vanished. When they got there, there was nothing to see, but the Doctor played the beam of the Sonic over the whole area, before scratching his head, and tapping it against his teeth.

"There is some sign of residual energy here too!" he said to Donna. "Isn't this near where we parked the Tardis yesterday?"

She nodded, and sniffed the air. "Can you smell chips?" she asked , wrinkling her nose up.

He sniffed too "I think you might be right!"

They looked around, but no explanation put itself forward.

They left John to sort out the remainder of the sheep, who had been milling around in an adjacent field, and went back to the harvesting, still pondering what this could all mean.

Donna and Rachel joined the others in the field after lunch. They followed behind the cart with large baskets, picking up any ears of corn which had fallen on the ground. 'Gleaning' it was called, Donna learned. Rachel explained that eventually the sheep would be turned into the field to eat anything that was left, including the roots of the corn. Donna reflected on this way of living, where everything was used, nothing was wasted. So unlike her twenty first century urban life, she thought, as she lugged her basket down the field.

At the end of the afternoon, the cart was driven to the barn, where the last of the corn was stowed, and as the weary labourers made their way up to the house, a sudden loud noise filled the air. It sounded to Donna exactly like a railway tannoy - a loud, but tinny voice, which spoke in words which one couldn't quite catch. Everyone stood stock still, the farm workers evidently absolutely terrified, but The Doctor and Donna just looking perplexed. Then, as suddenly as it had started, the sound stopped, as if cut off mid-sentence, and everything returned to normal.

The labourers resumed their weary trudge, shaking their heads and speculating as to what it could have been. The Doctor and Donna stood looking at each other.

"What on Earth is going on?" Donna asked. "First we lose the Tardis, then a sheep! Bananas appear - and a public address system blares out from nowhere!"

She looked expectantly at The Doctor.

"You forgot the satsuma!" he said, fishing it out of his trouser pocket, and examining it closely. "But at the moment, your guess is as good as mine! Well- there's obviously some sort of portal or rift, through which these things are passing, but as to why, and exactly where from...?"

He popped the satsuma away again, and they followed the others towards the house in thoughtful silence.

Later that evening, they were both sitting on a log, leaning their aching backs against the smooth flints of the farmhouse wall. They had shared a meal with about twenty of the Sandons' friends and family, all seated at trestle tables set up in front of the house. There was music now, and dancing, in the flickering light of the fire, and of several torches stuck into the ground. It was a warm evening. Donna reflected that they had been in worse scrapes before now, and that these seemed to be good people. After a while, she turned her head to The Doctor, and asked quietly,

"We will get back – eventually - won't we ?"

He rolled his head towards her and gazed into her deep brown eyes. "Course we will! I've never completely lost her yet! Trust me..."

"…You're a Doctor - I know!" she finished for him. They smiled at each other companiably for a moment, before turning back to watch the dancing.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

Donna woke, and stretched on out on the surprisingly comfortable hay filled mattress. She turned towards the light, and saw The Doctor standing beside the window, leaning on his arm which rested across the top of the frame. He was looking out through the wooden bars, over the now empty fields of the farm. He spoke as he heard her roll over.

"Robert says he sent three of his men to look for the Tardis along the lane to the village first thing this morning – but they found no trace of her - or of the missing sheep. I can't say I'm surprised –they could be light years away!"

Donna groaned as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"So how do we go about looking for her, Doctor?" she asked him.

"Whatever this is, it obviously only opens intermitently and briefly, or things would be falling through, in both directions, all the time. We walked up and down that lane several times, and there was no sign of any energy field whilst we were there….." he mused. "We'll just have to sit and take some readings for a while, and see if there's some sort of energy spike. But c'mon -breakfast!" he finished brightly, and looked at her for the first time. "Hmm…. You might wanna…" and he waggled his finger around his head, indicating that she should do something about her appearance before going downstairs.

Donna pulled a face, and shooed him out of the room. Rachel had provided some water, a ball of spiced soap, and a cloth, so she set about cleaning herself as best she could. She put on her own clothes, in the hopes that they would soon find the Tardis and be off.

After breakfast, they thanked Rachel, and headed off down the lane. They saw Robert walking towards them with two of his men. He was smiling as he approached them and opened his mouth to speak, but then stopped in his tracks, and turned his head as if listening.

A moment later Donna realised what he had heard. Somewhere in the distance behind Robert there was a steady, insistent throbbing noise. As Robert and his men turned to face this noise, it grew louder and louder, until the sound filled the sky. Donna could actually feel the sound waves hitting her as they stood looking towards the village.

Then, suddenly – over the tops of the trees bordering the lane came three huge military style helicopters. They were black all over, with two giant rotors apiece, and seemed to be almost hugging the ground as they came. The noise was overpowering, and Donna was forcefully reminded of scenes from the film 'Apocalypse Now' she and her Grandad had watched one Bank Holiday afternoon. She instinctively clutched at The Doctor's arm, as they both stared open mouthed at the sight before them.

The effect on Robert and his men was necessarily more considerable. They had never seen or heard anything remotely like this in all their lives, and had flung themselves to the ground as soon as the helicopters had appeared. All the men had turned white, and the youngest was sobbing uncontrollably as he buried his head in his hands, seemingly trying to disappear through the ground.

As the helicopters passed over head, and the noise abated somewhat, Robert could be heard gasping "Monsters – monsters in the sky!"

The Doctor, who had been watching the retreating aircraft, was suddenly galvanised into action. He grabbed Donna's hand and yelling "C'mon – quick!", dragged her off down the lane in the direction the 'monsters' had come from.

They rounded the small copse of trees, and ground to a halt. Donna looked all around her, but could not see anything amiss. The Doctor was scrabbling in his pockets, and produced his little brass instrument with the dials, and buttons on it. He frantically turned the dials, pushed a couple of buttons, and then thrust it at Donna.

"Scan the whole area in that direction with it!" he instructed. "It's effectively a compass, but if there's some type of spatial disturbance, it should register – let me know if it goes 'ding'!"

He then produced the Sonic, and set about a thorough scan of the air above and around them.

Donna walked forward, slowly swinging her 'compass' from side to side, looking out for anything unusual ahead of her. She could hear the shouts of the men in the lane behind them as they recovered from their ordeal. Other voices seemed to be joining them, as everyone tried to tell each other the same tale, and to comprehend what they had seen. Donna heard the shouts rising in fear once more as the noise of the helicopters began again. They had obviously looped round and were coming back.

The Doctor turned the Sonic towards them as the noise grew ever louder and more palpable. Donna suddenly realised that a small red light she had not noticed before was flashing on her device.

"Doctor!" she cried out, but he didn't hear her over the sound of the aircraft. She held it up to her ear, and could just hear a repeated 'ding' sound. She turned towards The Doctor and opened her mouth for good old 'Donna' yell….

…..When suddenly the air around her seemed to go solid for a moment, before fizzing green and blue. She heard a loud 'Thwunkk!' sound, just before her vision cleared, and she found herself standing in what appeared to be a huge concrete floored hangar, with the doors at the end standing wide open. Through the doors she could see open fields – much larger than the one she had been standing in.

In the air, above the trees she saw three huge black helicopters, disappearing into the distance.

Silence

There was no sign of The Doctor – who had been just yards from her a moment ago.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

For a moment, there was complete silence – but it was that tense, expectant silence that tells you that someone or something is there with you. Donna slowly turned around and took in the frozen tableau that greeted her.

In the centre of the hangar - dominating it - was a huge construction of metal and plastic. It reminded Donna of the massive engines of the hovercraft she'd used when going to the Isle of Wight for here holiday once. It had a big metal cage, guarding a fan with broad blades. Around it were smaller light grey boxes and cabinets, covered in dials, buttons and lights, various meters and screens. Wires of different colours trailed in amongst them all all.

Behind this contraption, she could see three men wearing white lab coats and large orange ear defenders. They were leaning round their equipment, frozen to the spot, and staring open mouthed at Donna. To one side was a table at which two more people sat – a man and a woman, also in lab coats and ear defenders – with a computer in between them. They too were frozen in shock.

The silence was broken at last by the gentle bleat of a sheep. Donna spotted the animal over the woman's shoulder, peering over the top of what looked like a hastily put together pen, and chewing lazily on some hay as it watched proceedings. The small sound seemed to jolt everyone back to life.

The group of people in front of Donna began to slip down their ear defenders, the man and woman at the desk began an urgent hissed conversation, whilst one of the others stepped cautiously out from behind the machine to stand facing her.

She took a deep breath before giving them the full Donna treatment:

"Where am I – what place is this? More to the point _when_ is it? And where the _Hell_ is the Doctor! "

The man took a hurried step backwards when faced with this onslaught. He decided that it was best to answer this fearsome woman's questions, and ask his own burning ones when he had calmed her down somewhat.

"You are inside Hut 6 of the Saxon Scientific Research Institute, it's er….. about three o'clock, and I'm afraid Doctor Harrison is up in London today!"

Donna looked him in the eye, unmollified.

"I meant" she began in a voice that quelled him once more, "What _planet_ am I on? What _year_ is it? And I'm talking about _The_ Doctor. If you don't tell me where he is right now – you are _so_ gonna regret it!"

Suddenly everyone started talking at once, with various degrees of urgency. Donna folded her arms and waited, tapping her foot ominously. At last the woman at the table stood and addressed herself to Donna.

"You say 'what planet?' Does that mean that you are….. from beyond our Earth?"

A ripple of excitement flowed around the scientists.

"No, I'm from Chiswick – but last time I looked I was in Sussex!" Everyone looked at each other, then bent to study the screens in front of them.

"And the year?" prompted Donna. The woman looked up at her quizzically.

"The year? Well it's 2010, of course…"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Chapter 5:

Donna suddenly realised she had a blinding headache, and put her hand up to her forehead, as the room began to spin in front of her. It must be the effects of time travel without the Tardis, she thought. The woman leaped forward and caught her as she began to keel over.

"You've gone white as a sheet!" she told Donna.

"Fine – I'm fine!" Donna protested.

"Don't worry" said the woman. "The sheep seemed a bit disoriented when it arrived, but it's fine now, I think!"

She shot a look over to the sheep-pen as if to confirm her statement. The sheep eyed her back steadily over its' rail.

"Let's go to my office."

She led her towards a door at the back of the hangar

"We haven't even asked your name!" she continued as they walked down a well lit corridor.

"Donna – Donna Noble" she answered.

"I'm Karen – I work at the Institute – for Doctor Harrison. I'm so sorry you have been…..inconvenienced by our experiment! You must have been picked up by The Beam as we reversed the process, like that poor old sheep was yesterday. I assume you were somewhere out there!" she nodded back towards the Hangar.

Donna's head was beginning to clear.

"So how come you're experimenting with time travel – I'm sure that doesn't happen…well, not yet anyway!" She trailed off, not sure what she could or should say. Karen looked at her curiously.

"Time travel? No no no! Whatever gave you that idea? Our experiments… well they're top secret, so I can't really…."

The two women looked at each other, both aware that each held vital information that would explain recent events, and that each was loath to divulge it.

"The Institute," Karen said as they reached the door to a small office, "was set up by the late Harold Saxon, just before he entered politics. It's purpose is to study various branches of astronomy and related sciences. Luckily for us, the funding was all in place and ring fenced before his…..disappearance. Our work here in Hut 6 is related to looking for ways to cross vast areas of space, without having to travel _through_ them as such. Do you follow me?"

Donna nodded. "Yeah – I get the general idea – but what exactly is that thing in the hangar supposed to _do_?"

Karen showed Donna into a room containing a desk and a computer terminal as well as a comfortable looking sofa which took up one wall, underneath a groaning bookshelf. A coffee table, as well as most of the floor and the desk was strewn with files and paperwork.

"You need a secretary!" pronounced Donna picking her way to the sofa. Karen smiled wryly, and scooped enough of the papers up off the floor so that they could sit comfortably without tucking their feet up.

"Right," she continued her explanation, "the idea is that we fix The Beam on a point in space, and objects, and eventually people" – here she looked apologetically at Donna-" are introduced into The Beam, and ideally are teleported to that location. We have been experimenting with fruit – sending it to a satellite orbiting the Earth, and then trying to retrieve it. We use fruit so we could see if there was any damage to soft tissues. Anyway, as it happens we have some sort of glitch, as the fruit hasn't yet made it to the satellite, let alone back. But we seem to be picking up objects from the local area, as we reverse the flow of The Beam" Karen continued. "First it was an old phone box – police property, it said on it. Then there was that sheep yesterday, and you today…What's wrong Donna?"

Donna was opening and shutting her mouth like a goldfish. "You've got the…..phone box?" she managed eventually.

It was obvious really, but she hadn't had time to think things through properly.

"It belongs to…..a friend of mine – we were looking for it when I….turned up here!"

"Well, we'll have to return it when we've finished studying it to see if there have been any physical effects from the transfer. Whereabouts was it when we picked it up?"

Donna sank her head in her hands, and thought through her options. She felt instinctively that introducing the Tardis as a fully operational machine for travelling in Time and Space, would be The Wrong Thing To Do. And yet she owed this woman some explanation. Moreover she needed to find a way to reach The Doctor.

"Before I got caught by your Beam, I was with this man –called The Doctor" she began, not entirely sure what to say. "We were in the village of Singleton in Sussex in the year 1599."

"Sorry!" interjected Karen "The Institute is in Singleton – but what do you mean 1599?

Donna sighed " The Doctor….."

Then a memory stirred in Donna's brain –something The Doctor had said. " We were heading for this area, two days ago, when something happened as we were landing, and when we stepped out of the door, we found ourselves in the year 1599. We must have crossed your Beam, and been teleported back in time!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" retorted Karen "It can't teleport through time!"

"Well, I'm telling you it did!" insisted Donna. "First us, then the ….phone box, then you sent a Satsuma and some bananas. The sheep went missing from the farm we were on, then those three helicopters turned up this morning – you wouldn't believe the panic they caused on a Tudor farm! Then you brought them back to the twenty first century, and caught me at the same time!"

Karen was still looking as though Donna had completely lost her mind. Donna felt a pang of sympathy for her.

"Look," she said, "there are millions of people out there who wouldn't believe you are doing serious experiments with teleportation – a couple of years ago I'd have been one of them. The Doctor has shown me that there is so much more in this universe than I could ever have dreamed of"

She sat looking inwardly for a moment, remembering all the times they'd had, imagining all the times yet to come. She looked at Karen

"He is stuck - in 1599 – and we have to bring him back!"

As they sat looking at each other, they became aware of the sound of large vehicles somewhere close outside the building. Karen raised an eyebrow, and moved towards the window.

"What on Earth...?"

Donna rose to join her, in time to see four large military vehicles drawing up outside. As they watched, a dozen or so figures dressed in black fatigues, and bright red berets leaped down from the transport, and fanned out around the building.  
Donna's mouth fell open in recognition:

UNIT!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

After a moment or two, Donna and Karen heard the sounds of doors slamming, and heavy footsteps running. Somewhere, a voice was shouting commands.

"What on Earth…?" repeated Karen, and picked her way over to the door of the office. As she was reaching her hand out to the door handle, she froze as Donna hissed "No - Wait!"

From her experiences alongside The Doctor, she knew that although flawed, UNIT were generally on 'The Right Side' – but something here urged caution.

"I think it might be better if we tried to find out what's going on, before marching in, and getting caught up in it ourselves. Karen looked at her for a moment, then nodded agreement and let down the blind that covered the window in the door. Together they crouched behind it, straining their ears to hear what was happening.

Several sets of footsteps ran down the corridor, past their hiding place. In a few moments there was some commotion from the direction of the hangar, some more shouted orders, and then silence.

Cautiously, Donna turned the handle, opened the door a crack, and peered out into the now deserted corridor. Silently the two women slid out of the room, and advanced noiselessly towards the door to the hangar area. Donna flattened herself against the wall and edged closer, until she had a partial view into the vast space.

The four scientists had been herded into the centre of the room, and were standing with their hands in the air. Encircling them were about eight UNIT soldiers, all but one pointing guns at their captives. The last member of the team was clearly the officer in charge. From her vantage point she soon established that Martha Jones was not among those present, nor was anyone she recognised from the time of the Sontaran attack. Still, she could probably get them to contact Martha if she needed to prove her credibility.

She realised the officer had started speaking.

"We have received several disturbing pieces of information concerning this Institution during the last few days. Firstly, our own equipment has been registering spikes of disturbance in the space/time continuum. And then reports from the RAF indicate some unusual phenomena in this area during one of their exercises. We have traced the unusual activity to this particular building, and so require you to explain the nature of your work here."

One of the scientists began to bluster

"Our work here is top secret….. It would be impossible for us to divulge….."

The UNIT officer broke in,

"No matter – you are under arrest, we will shut down your equipment here, and begin interrogations immediately! Harris! Stevens! Secure the front of the building – everyone else – follow me!"

Two of the soldiers jogged to the open end of the hangar and began to pull across some large folding doors, which had escaped Donna's notice earlier. The others, Donna realised, were heading their way with the prisoners, still at gun point, in their midst. She felt Karen's insistent hand on her arm, and allowed herself to be pulled back into some kind of storage room to the side of the hangar door. The door snapped shut behind them, just as the UNIT forces and their prisoners entered the corridor.

Donna stood with her back against the door, and wondered what to do next. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she became aware of a faint glow, high up against the far wall. With a flood of relief, which nearly reduced her to tears, she realised it was an illuminated sign:

'Police Public Call Box'

Her knees buckled and she sank to the floor. So –she'd found the Tardis, and she had her key to get in – but couldn't operate it without The Doctor. He was still stuck in 1599- and the only way to retrieve him was by using The Beam.

From what she could make out, UNIT had considered what was happening here a Bad Thing – and for all she knew they were right! She realised she had two choices. Firstly she could throw herself on UNIT's mercy – perhaps calling on Martha for support – and persuade them to help her. Secondly, she could remain hidden for a while, and then persuade Karen to help her try and retrieve The Doctor. In the end, she went for Option two – after all, if they were discovered she could always revert to Option One!

"Who were they?" hissed Karen, breaking Donna's train of thought.

"UNIT- The Unified Intelligence Task Force" Donna explained. "I've met them before. They're an international force which defends the Earth from alien threats."

" What?" squealed Karen. "There are no aliens here!"

"No!" agreed Donna. "But I think messing with rifts in time also comes under their remit. What we really need here is The Doctor!"

After a few minutes hurried discussion, they agreed to return to the hangar, and at least see what could be done to retrieve The Doctor. They opened the door a little, established that the UNIT forces seemed to have gone elsewhere in the building, and crept back towards the hangar door.

It had been locked, but Karen had her keys. The room was in darkness, so Karen made her way to the desk, and switched on a lamp. By its light she fished about in a desk drawer, and came up with two torches. They made their way over to the machine, and Karen saw that UNIT had done their best to temporarily disable it, by removing wires, and switching parts of it off.

"It will take a few minutes, but I can reset this – then we'll have to wait about half an hour for it to power up" she diagnosed.

For a while she worked in silence, with Donna holding the torches. Eventually she sat back, as various components began to emit low humming noises.

"Now, do you think that this 'Doctor' will be in the exact same location that you were when we picked you up?" she asked Donna. Donna sighed –it had been a few hours now since she had arrived here, and knowing The Doctor, there was every chance he'd wandered off! How on Earth were they going to do this? There seemed no way to deliberately lock on to him wherever he was, so they would have to hope he could find the rift when they opened it!

"We can adjust the settings so that The Beam comes out exactly where we 'found' you – there are records in the computer…" Karen was saying.

"….I only spotted the rift because I had this…." Donna trailed off, and felt in her pocket for The Doctor's brass 'compass'. When the rift had opened it had been flashing red and sounding some sort of alarm.

"If we…" she said, thinking aloud, "…were to teleport this back to the point I came from, left The Beam open for a few minutes, and then tried to retrieve it – he might spot it and be close enough to come through as well!"

She didn't know how likely this was, but it was the best idea she could think of. Karen seemed to think that it was feasible, and went to sit at the computer terminal to calibrate all the variables needed to repeat their last experiment exactly. Donna placed the 'compass' on a small painted square Karen had indicated in the middle of the floor. They then went over to the large doors, and pushed them open, revealing that it was now dusk outside.

They retreated – Karen to the desk, and Donna to a point midway between the desk and the great machine, where she stood waiting nervously. In a few minutes Karen claimed that everything was now ready, and indicated one of the pairs of ear defenders hanging next to the cage. Donna slipped them on, and Karen did the same, before keying the activation code into the computer.

A huge 'thrumming' sound filled the air, as the fan began to turn – followed by a high pitched whine as the screens around the cage began to flash through a series of wave patterns.

Suddenly there was a greeny blue flash around the 'compass' and it winked out of existence!

Donna looked at the place where it had been, and then turned towards Karen. The two women looked at each other. How long dare they keep it open? After what seemed like ages -but must have only been a minute or so –they became aware of shouts in the background, and running feet. Karen had relocked the door, but the end of the hangar was wide open now – it would only be a matter of minutes before they were caught.

"I'm gonna have to do it!" Karen called over the sound of the machine. She pressed a button.

Donna turned back to the empty space in front of her.

Would it work?

Would he have found it in time?


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Donna felt the palms of her hands prickle with sweat, whilst the inside of her mouth seemed drained of all moisture. She fixed her eyes on the small painted square on the floor- willing something-anything -to appear.

Suddenly there was aloud 'crack!' and a bright flash which caused her to close her eyes momentarily. As she opened them, she quickly focussed on the strange hunched figure now filling the spot in the middle of the hangar. It seemed to be human in shape, wearing a worn and mottled woollen cloak, with a battered black felt hat. On top of the hat was perched, rather surreally, a pewter tankard - some of the contents of which were now dripping down the sides of the hat. In its hand it clutched the brass compass.

As she took in this bizarre sight, the 'creature' raised its head, and she found herself looking directly into a pair of familiar deep brown eyes!

"...accurately!...Oh! Hullo!" said The Doctor, as he saw her standing there.

Donna felt a sudden rush of that complex emotion all mothers get when a lost child turns up safe and well. A mixture of bubbling joy, and anger at the fear and stress so recently experienced.

"What the Hell...?" she began, gesturing towards the hat.

The Doctor gingerly reached up, removed the offending item with its pewter ornament, and placed it carefully on the ground. He stood up, shrugged off the cloak, ran his fingers through his damp and sticky hair, and shook his head as if trying to dislodge something.

"Don't like time travel without a capsule!" he muttered, before looking back at Donna, who was by now standing with her arms folded and a thunderous look on her face.

"What on Earth were you doing with _that_?" she nodded at the sodden hat "on your head?"

"Robert and I were playing a game to pass the time - I was hours sitting in that field waiting for the rift to reopen!" he complained.

"A drinking game, by any chance?"

"Well- more of a 'spilling' game in my case!" he conceded.

It was at this point that they heard an ominous 'click' from the open end of the hangar, as light flooded the area. They all turned to find four UNIT soldiers, spread out, their weapons trained on the trio in the centre of the room. Slowly they all raised their hands.

"Move away from the equipment. We need total and immediate shut down - Colonel's orders!"

barked one of the men.

Karen stood up from behind the desk,and she and Donna moved to stand next to The Doctor.

The Doctor took a deep breath,

"Right!" His eyes darted from one soldier to another. "I am The Doctor - I must speak with whoever's in charge!"

"Dr. Harrison? They said you were in London." The first soldier responded.

"No!" chimed in Donna "He's _The_ Doctor - your colonel will have heard of him even if you haven't!"

There was some hurried communication on the radios, before the soldiers led them from the hangar, and showed them into a small room at the end of the corridor. There they found the rest of the scientific team, still looking a little shell-shocked, and Karen went over to them, and began trying to reassure them.

Donna took the opportunity to fill The Doctor in on what she had learned at the Institute. The Doctor's main concern seemed to be the name.

"Saxon Institute - Harold Saxon?" he asked, starting to look concerned. "Why...? I'll have to find out what technology he gave them. And what it was he was trying to develop"

"They never really said what happened to him" Donna mused. "At the time they just said he was 'removed' What did that mean, I wonder!" She noticed The Doctor had that look of deep sadness he adopted when memories troubled him.

"Best leave it at that!" was all he said.

"The Colonel wants to see you!" A soldier interrupted their conversation. "Just The Doctor." he added as they both got to their feet.

"She comes with me" replied The Doctor, preparing to follow.

The soldier shrugged, and led them to a room across the corridor.

They entered to find the Colonel sitting at a desk, speaking on his phone. He looked The Doctor up and down, and spoke into the phone. "Skinny, yes...freckles...OK, looks like it then...Actually, yes." Here his gaze shifted to Donna. "Red hair, yes...Yeah, I imagine she would be...OK. Yes...I will! Bye!" and with that he rang off.

He addressed them both, "Dr. Jones sends her regards -said you should get in touch more often, in fact. You, I presume, are Donna Noble?" he said looking at her.

"Yeah, that's me!" said Donna with a note of defiance, standing shoulder to shoulder with The Doctor.

The Colonel turned back to The Doctor,

"Now, Doctor, it is of course a great honour to meet you! Could you perhaps give us some explanation of what is happening here, and your own involvement?"

"I was just passing, and got caught up -literally it seems- in their experiments. I'd like the chance to have a good look at the technology they're using myself, if I may?" he scratched the back of his head. "Could probably tell you a lot more about it after that!"

The Colonel came to a decision. "OK Doctor - you're probably the best person to have a look at it, after all - but you won't have to activate the machine ,will you? The readings we were getting at HQ were extremely worrying!"

"Quite!" agreed The Doctor. "We might as well make a start straight away - Allons-y?" and he indicated the door through which they had come.

Back in the hangar, The Doctor at first sauntered around the machine, hands in pockets, taking it all in. Then, donning his glasses and pulling out the Sonic, he began a closer inspection of some of the components, occasionally darting from one part to another. From time to time, a small 'Oh!' or 'Aah!' would escape as he studied various screens and dials. Eventually he went over to the computer, sonicked it into life, and began scrolling through the data on the screen.

"Very bad!" he muttered. "Oops- risky that!" he continued, shaking his head as new information came to light.

"So -what they're doing is dangerous?" queried Donna.

"Yeah! Meddling with Time..." he said, whilst tapping away on the keyboard.

"But we travel in Time all the time, Doctor." she ventured.

He stopped, and looked at her over his glasses.

"That's the difference, Donna -we travel _in_ Time - these people have been punching a hole _through_ Time - bound to cause instability in the temporal flux! And I'm worried what else they might try, if they work on some of this stuff for any length of time..." He looked back at the screen.

"OK!" he said to the Colonel, who had been watching every move. "Some of what they have here is dodgy - positively dangerous, in fact! But there's other stuff which, with a little tweaking, it's safe to let them loose on - could help advance the human race, in fact! I just need to talk to one of the team here - establish exactly where they can go with this!"

A few moments later, Karen was ushered into the room. The Doctor flashed her one of his brilliant smiles, and beckoned her over to the computer. As they became engrossed in some technical discussion, Donna wandered over to the sheep pen, and began to scratch the sheep gently behind the ear. She wondered what the sheep made of all this. Was it as blown away as she was when she first travelled in Time with The Doctor? Somehow she doubted it.

She heard a clatter behind her as The Doctor sprang to his feet, and darted over to the machine again, and began fiddling with controls. He lifted up some metal flaps, and appeared to be sonicking what was underneath. He tugged out some of the wires, re-arranged them, and attached them in new positions. At one point Donna was surprised to see him slip something round and orange into one of the compartments and sonic the lid shut.

At last he stood back, sighed and removed his glasses. He turned to Karen.

"I think I've got you back on track with your research - the teleport will now function purely in Space rather than Time. I should start small - a few feet at a time- until you get to grips with it! All the information you need is in the computer -I should spend some time assimilating that before returning to practical experiments!"

He nodded, and turned his attention back to the Colonel.

"A quiet word in your ear!" he said. Donna accompanied the two men to the far end of the hangar, where they all turned back to look at the great machine.

"Harold Saxon gave them some technology it's safest they don't have access to, so I've removed that, but left them enough to be going on with. It should all be quite safe now, but I should continue to monitor their activity - just in case!" he explained.

"And the satsuma?" Donna asked.

"Oh! Citric acid! Plays havoc with the circuitry! By the time they realise what's in there, it should have corroded away most of the microchips!" He gave her a lop-sided grin.

"I don't suppose the Tardis turned up did it?" he asked, suddenly serious again.

It was Donna's turn to smile. "For once, _you_ can follow _me_, Doctor!"

A while later, as they opened the Tardis door, Donna stopped in her tracks.

"My hat! I left on Rachel's bed in the farmhouse!" she wailed. "Now I'll never be prepared for

'Planet Of The Hats'!"

"Donna!" sighed The Doctor, in mock exasperation,

"How many times? There_ is_ no Planet Of The Hats!

The End.

Thank you all for sticking with it – your support is much appreciated.


End file.
